Man of Legend
by queenvampire
Summary: The Forbidden Forest contains many paths, some of the reaching further than should be possible. Dropped over the forest on his way to the Durselys, Harry finds himself raised differently to expectations- with the founders themselves. However, peace cannot last forever, and he will quickly find himself back where he started - in the middle of a war he wants nothing to do with...


_**In the beginning:**_

The moon glinted over the trees, glimmering light sliding between the branches to touch upon the backs of the beings that lurked there. It flickered in the ripples of the black water, disturbed by the travel of fish, and of darker creatures. Towering over forest stood a tall castle, the white stone gleaming in the stars. Many of the windows were dark; the rooms within cold and unused. However, at the top of the tallest tower, a single candle spluttered and burned in a window.

"What do we do?" murmured the woman. Her hair hung in a single ponytail, its dark strands cascading down her back. Her face was pretty, but the spark of wisdom in her eyes stood out far more. Upon her head rested a simple diadem in the shape of an eagle, the single blue jewel complementing her simple dress.

"What can we do, Rowena?" queried the man across the room from her. He paced back and forth. The woman, now identified as the Rowena Ravenclaw, looked up from the item she was studying in great detail. As she glanced around the room, she noted Helga fussing with a blanket for the object they were creating such a fuss over, and Salazar crouched opposite her. He seemed fascinated with the small child, who could not have been more than a year old.

"Well, we certainly can't send him back, that's for sure. We don't even know how he got here… poor child…" Helga spoke out. She walked over and laid the blanket over the baby. The child gurgled and waved a hand in her direction, causing her to smile, and Salazar to stare in even greater fascination.

"Well we can't keep him here! Where would he stay? Who would look after him? Does anyone here even know how to care for a child? I don't!" The first man, Godric Gryffindor, cried.

"I will." Salazar declared. The other founders rounded on him and stared in shock. "What? I want to. I've never really seen a baby up close… and he seems… well, the only way to describe it is _familiar_, but I've never met him before, so I don't know why that is. Anyway, I want to keep him. What else would we do with him anyway?"

Helga paused, and then said, "Caring for a child isn't that hard. I practically raised my little sister when we were children. We could do it. I mean, we'd need to research things, and buy the appropriate supplies, but I think it could work. Besides, we need more people here. It's going to be a while before we can open the school anyway, and it's too quiet here. A child could help us all, I think." Rowena stood up from where she was sat and nodded. Salazar looked up from the child, and stared at Godric, silently pleading him with his eyes to let them keep him.

"Oh, all right! But I don't want to have to deal with his mess, ok? Maybe it will be good for us all." Godric said with a great huff. The other three founders looked at each other and smirked slightly. All though Godric was, perhaps, the strongest wizard among them, he lacked in patience what he made up for in courage. With enough nagging and pleading, and the occasional burst of puppy-dog eyes, they could get the energetic Gryffindor to agree to almost anything.

"He'll need a name." Rowena pointed out, ever the logical voice of the group. "We can't keep calling him child."

"Name him for his eyes." Godric declared. "His eyes are the most interesting colour. I've only ever seen that shade of green through magic. They're brighter even than any jewel I've seen before."

"No," said Helga, "Name him for something more important than that. Name him for his new life. Name him for the forest where we found him." Godric frowned, but nodded. Rowena looked at Salazar for his approval, and finding it in his smile she bent over the tiny boy.

"All right then. Welcome to the family, Arvid." She declared, and pressed a kiss upon his brow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Short, I know, but I didn't have much time to write this. I'm very slow to update, so this story will take a long time to actually get anywhere, but I hope you guys like it :D<strong>

**Arvid: Look it up, but it's an old Nordic name, I think. It basically means 'forest of eagles', and I thought it sort of fitted.**


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